Production at a loss — As of
February 2011, it costs about 2.4 cents to mint a penny.[3]
In 2007, even the price of the raw materials it is made of exceeded the face
value, so there was a risk that coins were illegally melted down for raw
materials.[4]

Lost productivity and
opportunity cost of use — With the average wage in the U.S.
being about $17 per hour in 2011,[5]
it takes about two seconds to earn one cent. Thus, it is not worthwhile for
most people to deal with a penny. If it takes only two seconds extra for each
transaction that uses a penny, the cost of time wasted in the U.S. is about $3.65 per person annually,[6]
about $1 billion for all America.[7]
Using a different calculation, economist Robert Whaples estimates a $300
million annual loss.[8]

Limited utility — Pennies are
not accepted by all vending machines or many toll booths,
and pennies are generally not accepted in bulk; however, Illinois
does accept pennies in its toll booths.[9]
In addition, people often do not use cents to pay at all; they may simply use
larger denominations and get pennies in return.[citation needed] Pennies end up sitting in
jars or are thrown away and are not in circulation. Economist Greg Mankiw says
that "The purpose of the monetary system is to facilitate exchange, but...
the penny no longer serves that purpose." [10]

Prices would not be higher —
Research by Robert Whaples, an economics professor at Wake Forest University, using data on
nearly 200,000 transactions from a multi-state convenience store chain shows
that rounding would have virtually no effect. Consumers would gain a tiny
amount – about 38⁄1520 (1⁄40) of a cent per transaction.[11]

Historical precedents — There
has never been a coin in circulation in the U.S. worth as little as the penny
is worth today. Due to monetary inflation, as of 2007, a nickel is worth approximately what a
penny was worth in 1972.[12]
When the United States
discontinued the half-cent coin in 1857, it
had a 2008-equivalent buying power of 11 cents.[13]
After 1857, the new smallest coin was the cent, which had a 2008-equivalent
buying power of 26 cents. The nickel fell below that value in 1974; the dime (at 10 cents) fell below that value
in 1980;[12]
the quarter (at 25 cents) fell below that
value in 2007.[13]

Hazards — The reduced-cost cladzinc penny, which has been
produced since mid-1982, holds additional dangers when swallowed by children
and others, unlike all previous U.S.
coins. If the copper plating is breached, the penny quickly corrodes
into a sharp-edged object, which is more likely to lodge in the digestive
tract. Injury is more likely and furthermore, zinc and copper digested from the
lodged pennies may be toxic. An 11 lb (5-kilogram) dog was fatally
poisoned by swallowing two pennies.[14]

Historical sentiment — The
cent was one of the first coins authorized to be minted by the American
government and the first to be put into production.

Presidential history — Many
admire Lincoln as a president and in addition to the 5-dollar bill, the penny
bestows an honor on Lincoln.
This is especially pronounced in Lincoln's home
state, Illinois.[16]

Economist François R. Velde has
suggested an alternative plan in which the government would make the penny
worth five cents. This change would cause minor monetary inflation of $5.6
billion.[18]

On February 28, 2008, Rep. Zack Space
(D-OH) introduced H.R. 5512, the Coin Modernization and Taxpayer Savings Act of
2008. If enacted into law, the act would result in the penny being made
primarily of steel and treated to have a copper color within 270 days of
enactment unless the Secretary of the Treasury can come up with a new element
for coin composition that, when added to zinc and copper will lower the price
of manufacture to under one cent. According to the act: "Given the current
cost to make a penny and volume of pennies minted, simply reducing penny
production costs to face value, the United States will save more than
$500,000,000 in the next ten years alone." After committee hearings, the
House passed the bill on May 8, 2008 by voice vote. However, the bill died in
committee in the United States Senate.[19][20]

Precedents in other countries

Many countries outside the United States
have chosen to remove low-value coins from circulation:

Canada has
minted a one-cent coin of similar size and color as
its American counterpart, with steel as the interior metal instead of zinc,
though composition was near identical to U.S. cents prior to 2000; so it
circulates at par in small quantities in the United States. However, on March
29, 2012, the Canadian government announced that it will eliminate the penny
from the coinage system.[21]

The Philippines under US territorial administration
removed their half-centavo coins from circulation in 1904 due to public
rejection of such a small denomination, though introduced only the year before.
The Philippine half centavo continued as a proof-only coin until 1908, and a
small run of aluminum half-centavo coins was privately struck in 1913 for the
Culion Leper colony, but not circulated. In contrast to that however, the
Philippine hundredth of a peso denomination (one sentimo) continues to exist as
a circulated coin as of 2011 despite a record low value of $0.00024.

Sweden
removed the one- and two-öre coins from circulation in 1972, by 1991 had eliminated the
five, ten, and 25-öre coins, and in 2010 also eliminated the 50-öre coin.
Similarly, the Norwegian krone and Danish krone
have both eliminated all coins worth less than 50 øre.

The decimal British half penny (£0.005) was first issued in
1971. Being worth 1.2 pre-decimal pence, it enabled the prices of some
low-value items to be more accurately translated to the new decimal currency.
Inflation over the ensuing 13 years led to the coin being withdrawn from
circulation in December 1984.[22]

New Zealand eliminated one- and two-cent coins of the New Zealand dollar in April 1990, and the five-cent coin in October 2006.[23]
Prior to decimalization on 10 July 1967, there were two coins smaller than the
decimal cent that were eliminated during the changeover – the halfpenny (5⁄12
cent), and the penny (10⁄12 cent)

Mexico's
New Peso transition in 1993 made the five-cent coin the smallest denomination
of the new currency (the name was reverted to Mexican peso
in 1996). In 2009, new coins were minted for ten and twenty cents.[24]

Australia
eliminated the one-cent and two-cent coins of their dollar
in 1992.[25]

Bank Negara Malaysia implemented a
rounding mechanism on 1 April 2008 in order to round total bills to the nearest
0.05 ringgit,
which made the 1 sen (0.01 ringgit) coin irrelevant to normal circulation.[27]

Israel
eliminated the one agora coin in April 1991[28]
and the five-agorot coin in January 2008.[29]

However, many nations still
use coins of similar or smaller value to the US cent. In some cases, while the
nominal value of the coin may be smaller than that of a US cent, the purchasing
power may be higher:

Russia
still issues five-, ten-, and fifty-kopek coins, despite their value being approximately
equivalent to $0.002, $0.003, and $0.02, respectively, in U.S. dollars. The
issue of one-kopek coins was stopped in 2010.[35]

Neighboring Ukraine
still issues and uses all kopek coins, even the 1 kopek dating from when its hryvnia
was worth more. One kopeck is equivalent to $0.00125 (one-eighth of a U.S.
cent).

Republic of
Korea stopped minting of 1-won
and 5-won coins, but 10-won coins are still minted with changing composition.

The Eurozone
(except for Finland
and the Netherlands)
uses 1- and 2-cent coins. As posted prices generally include taxes, it is
possible (but not standard) for vendors to round prices to the nearest five
cents and eliminate the need for smaller-value coins. In Finland and the Netherlands, all prices are rounded
to the nearest five cents.[38]

Peru's
Nuevo Sol
still maintains production of 1-cent and 5-cent coins. The 1-cent coin is worth
USD 0.0035 US. Much like the American coin, they are only occasionally given
out at supermarkets as change and are never used in public. Most supermarkets
offer the option of donating the cents instead of receiving the change. This
saves time and most people opt for a donation to charity.

Panama
still issues a 1-centisimo coin, which is identical in size, composition and
value to the U.S. cent, and circulates alongside it.

Ecuador
still issues a 1-centavo coin, and like Panama, the coin is mostly
identical in composition to a U.S. cent, is equivalent in value, and also
circulates alongside it.

Laws regarding melting and
export

On April 17, 2007, a Department of the Treasury
regulation went into effect prohibiting the treatment, melting, or mass export
of pennies and nickels. Exceptions were allowed for numismatists,
jewelry makers, and normal tourism demands.[39]
The reason given was that the price of copper was rising to the point where
these coins could be melted for their metal content.[40]
In 1969, a similar law regarding silver coinage was repealed. Because their
silver content frequently exceeds collector value, silver coins are often sold
by multiplying their "face value" times a benchmark price that floats
relative to the spot silver price per ounce.[41]

I thank my opponent in
advance for accepting this debate. There will be three rounds of debate with
establishing arguments, rebuttals, and final focuses. If definitions are needed
for American penny or circulation, I would be happy to provide them.

In recent years, there has
been much discussion concerning the necessity of the penny. Many argue that the
penny is, "outdated, worthless, bothersome, and wasteful" (1). They
claim that the penny should be banned. Others contend that the penny is an
important national symbol (2). However, since the penny is obsolete,
financially wasteful, and practically valueless, it should be abolished.

First, pennies are becoming
increasingly obsolete. People simply do not use them anymore. In fact, though
the U.S.
mint produces a billion pennies a month, some sources claim that two-thirds of
them immediately drop out of circulation (3). In addition, twenty-seven percent
of Americans do not even keep track of their lose change (1). If Americans no
longer use the penny, it is unnecessary to have it. Personally, I never use
pennies at all. It is much easier to just throw them away than to try to keep
up with them in a pocket or wallet. I'm sure that I have thrown far more pennies
into fountains than used to purchase goods. It would be easier for everyone to
go about their lives without dealing with this obsolete coinage.

Secondly, pennies cause
financial waste. Though people do waste some money by disposing of pennies in
the trash, the nation is facing an even greater problem. Pennies actually cost
more to produce than they are worth. It costs 1.23 cents to make a one cent
penny. This may not seem like much, but when the nation finances the production
of billions of pennies a year, it is a recipe for financial ruin. However, the
problem does not end there. Estimates show that penny transactions waste four
hours per person, per year. Considering that these four hours could be better
spent working, pennies are responsible for a national deficit of over fifteen
billion dollars a year (1). Since the production and transactions of pennies
are financially wasteful, we should ban it as a form of currency.

Lastly, pennies are now
practically valueless. The things our grandparents purchased for a cent cost
much more today. William Safire of the New York Times writes that, "…it
takes nearly a dime today to buy what a penny bought back in 1950" (3).
This certainly comes full circle to the fact that people throw pennies out.
They do so because the coin is worthless. No one keeps fifty small coins around
when they could just carry two shiny quarters. On a larger and more significant
scale, pennies are often worthless in international business. The United States
is one of the last industrialized nations to maintain their low-denomination
coin (3).This makes it difficult to trade with other nations. In the interest
of pleasing both American citizens and our foreign neighbors, the penny should
be dropped from circulation as soon as possible.

Some still make arguments for
the penny. One man who saved them for thirty-eight years ended up with
$13,084.59 (1). Mark Lewis of Forbes.com points out that states like Tennessee who have high
productions of materials that make pennies are still in favor of the coin (4).
More convincing still, anyone can see the long history the penny has enjoyed in
our country just by looking at it (5). However, the facts still stand. Not many
Americans are willing to save all their pennies for thirty-eight years. States
like Tennessee do not rely on the penny for their economic revenue, and
eliminating the penny would eliminate a great deal of environmentally
destructive mining in such states. Though the penny enjoys a long history, such
history belongs in a museum. The detriments to the penny outweigh its benefits.
Americans must do what's best for other Americans. Since the penny is obsolete,
financially harmful, and valueless, it must be eliminated from our currency.

What would be the point of
getting rid of the penny? The penny is the basis of all money. Getting rid of
the penny would be completely pointless, so why should it be taken out of
circulation.

The penny has been being used
for hundreds of years without any problems. A lot of people say that pennies
aren't really worth anything. But, obviously, in reality they are worth
something. Everything can come down to pennies if you want it to. A dollar, 100
pennies. 10 dollars, 1,000 pennies, and so on and so forth.

Getting rid of the penny
would throw of our money system. Prices of goods would have to increase or
decrease by at least 5 cents every time a price was lowered or raised because a
Nickel would be the next smallest coin. You could say "Goodbye" to
$1.99 sales or something for $98.97.

Another major issue, taxes on
items you buy at the store. Even a $2.00 item, which would seem easy enough to
pay without pennies, would become impossible to pay due to the taxes on the
item.

So yes, lets get rid of the
penny and lose the basis of all our money, say "goodbye" to easy
savings and easy financial transactions; sounds like a smart idea, huh? While
we're at it, why not get rid of anything less than a dollar! Yeah, that
wouldn't make much sense either.